Combined cap and auxiliary container



" y 1 I P; A. DERHAM- E'I;AL' 2,320,070

COMBINED CAP AND AUXILIARY CONTAINER Filed March 19,1942

INVEN TORS e JessefllvewporliJzr I ATTORNEY -Pbmp A Derbam Patented May 25, 1943 COMBINED GAP AND AUXILIARY CONTAINER Philip A. Derham and Jesse 11'. Newport, J -r.,

Itosemont, Pa-., assignorsto Victor Metal Products Corporation,BrooklynrNl Y., a corporation of New York Application March 19, 1942,:Serial' No. 435,326.

Claims.

This invention relates. to container caps. and particularly to those of the typedesigned to removably hold, an auxiliary container thereto. Containers such as those intended to hold pharmaceuticals and. the likeare customarily provided with a screw-threadedv cap usually molded of plastic material and screwed. to the top. of the container which may be in the form. of a. glass bottle. It. is frequently necessary to. employ extraneous devices for utilizingthe contents of the container, such devices. including droppers, applicators, eye cups,. and the. like. Such devices, however, when they do not form apart ofthe container or the cap, are frequently mislaid and are not easily found or accessible when most needed.

Our invention. thereforev contemplates the provision of a container cap provided. with means for holding thereto. an auxiliary container or other suitable device needed to utilize the contents of the container, ready for immediate use when the cap is removed.

Our invention further contemplates the provision of a molded auxiliary container or other suitable device provided with slightly resilient prongs adapted. to engage the main container cap and tobe held thereto at all times except when used with the contents of the main container.

Our invention. further contemplatesthe provision of a combined cap and auxiliary device designed to be economically manufactured of molded plastic. material and frictionally held together for easy separation. when desired to retain the auxiliary container inplaceonv the cap-ready for immediate use when. necessary.

The variousv objects of the invention. will. be clear from. the description which follows an from the drawing, in which,

Fig. l is a side view of one form of the invention including a container cap and an auxiliary eye cup showing the main container in. dash-dot lines.

Fig. 2 is a. bottom plan view of the same, the main container being omitted.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of. the auxiliary container as it appears removed from the cap.

Fig. 4 is a side view of a modified form of the combined cap and auxiliary container.

Fig. 5 is a bottom plan view of the same.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the auxiliary container as it appears removed from its cap.

fig. '7 is a side view of another modified. form of the cap and auxiliary container.

Fig. 8' is a top plan view of the cap.

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of the auxiliary container of Fig. '7.

In. the, practical embodiment. of the invention shown by way of example, the. container l0 may be in any of the. usual. forms. such as that of a glass bottle having an externally threaded. neck I I. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the cap I2 is molded in. generally cylindrical shape of suitable plastic; material and is preferably provided with a flat. imperforate. top 13, and with a skirt or depending peripheral wall having a series of identical concave grooves, or upright flutes l4 there-in, parallel. to each. other and to theaxis of the cap. The cap is, internally threaded in the usual manner to fit. the threaded neck II. It is intended that the flutes 1.4 frictionally engage the extensions. or prongs. l5'of the auxiliary container";v or other suitable. device intended to. be used with the contents of the container Ill.

As shown, the auxiliary member [6 is made. in the form of an eye cup having a fiat bottom I! designed to rest firmly on the top [3 of the cap. Along its upper edge, the member I G'may be provided. with the bead t8 and with reinforcing ribs as [9 extending downwardly at. each. end. of the container from the bead. Themember I6 is of sufiicient. width and depth to hold. the desired quantity of medicament for treating the eye, which medicament constitutes the contents. of the container H) in the case wherethe auxiliary member 16 is an eye-cup. Itwill be understood, however. that the container l6 may take any desired form and may beused for other purposes than treating the eye, and may be suitably designed for that purpose, one. of. the features of the invention being the means for holding the member l6 to the cap I2. It will beunderstood that the term eye-cup used herein is therefore intended to refer todevices useable with the contents of the main container for utilizing said contents for their intended purposes.

To permit the container Hi to be frictionally held to the cap for manipulation as a unit therewith, the prongs. I5, 20, 2|, and 22 are employed. While four prongs. are shown and described, it will be understood that any desired number greater than one may be usedif desired. Each of the prongs is preferably of generally cylindrical form being joined integrally to and projecting from the outer or lateral surface of the memher It and extending. below the bottom I! thereof a suitable distance to render said prongs slightly resilient. Preferably, the extreme free end of each of the prongs. is slightly rounded in order that it may be easily entered into a selected one of the cap flutes M. The circumferential distance between the various prongs I5, 20, 2| and 22 is a precise multiple of the corresponding distance between the adjacent flutes 14. The diametrical distance between opposite prongs as I5, 22 and 20,21 is equal to or slightly less than the corresponding diametrical distance between opposite flutes 14 of the cap. Consequently, the prongs I5, 22 will enter opposite flutes l4 and will yield slightly when pressed axially thereinto. Similarly, the prongs 20, 2| will engage the walls of diametrically opposite flutes and yield slightly when pressed thereinto. The tendency of th prongs to spring back and the frictional engagement of said prongs with the flutes serves to hold the container in place on the cap frictionally against removal, it being understood that the prongs are pressed into the flutes until the bottom II of the member I6 engages and rests on the top [3 of the cap. The cap with the member I 6 carried thereby may readily be screwed on to the bottle neck and removed therefrom without disturbing the member I6, but said member may be removed from the cap at any time for suitable use. i

It will be understood that devices other than eye-cups may be provided with prongs as I5, 20, 2| and 22 to be held to the cap 12. It will further be seen that since the member [6 is attachable readily to the cap, it is always in place when the contents of the container HI are about to be used and is not likely to be mislaid or lost.

Referring now to the form of the invention shown in Figs. 4 to 6, instead of providing closely adjacent and comparatively narrow flutes in the cap 25, said cap is provided with a lesser number (two as shown) of wider and more widely spaced flutes or concavely arcuate grooves as 26 in the outer or lateral surface thereof. In the auxiliary container 21, there are provided the opposite integral projections 28, 29 each having an arcuate inner wall 30 of the same curvature as the wall of the groove 25. Said projections are much wider than the thickness thereof so that being comparatively thin, the projections may yield outwardly to a slight extent under pressure in a manner similar to that in which the prongs l yield. In this case, only two projections 28 and 29 are shown, though it will be understood that more may be used if desired. The auxiliary member .2! is assembled with and disassembled from the cap in the same manner as described in connection with the member l6 of Figs. 1 to 3,

that is, the projections 28, 29 are inserted into opposed grooves and pressed. downwardly to slightly spread them and to cause them to engage tightly the walls of the grooves, the bottom 34 of the member 21 coming to rest on the top 32 of the cap in the normal positions of the parts.

In that form of the invention shown in Figs. 7 to 9, the diameters of the preferably cylindrical prongs 35, 36, 37, 38 projecting from the auxiliary member 39 may be considerably smaller than the diameters of the prongs IS, the former prongs being spaced in approximately the same positions as the prongs of Figs. 1 to 3. The skirt or depending wall 40 of the cap M is preferably made, however, of somewhat greater thickness than the corresponding wall of the cap I2 to enable the provision of the openings 42, 43, 44, 45, corresponding in spacing to the prongs 35, 36, 31, 33. Said openings may be of the same diameter as that of the prongs or of slightly greater diameter. If of the same diameter, the prongs are frictionscribed in connection with the prongs l5, 2 I.

ally fitted into the openings, but if of greater diameter, the opposite openings as 42, 45, and 43, 44 are spaced apart diametrically a distance slightly greater than the distance between corresponding opposed prongs as 35, 38 and 36, 31 to slightly spread the prongs and to insure firm engagement thereof with the inner parts of the walls of the openings, as has been previously de- As many sets of openings as desired may be made to extend from the top 46 of the cap into the wall thereof, so that the prongs may readily be inserted into the openings without excess manipulation to locate the openings. It will be understood that the walls of the openings are arcuate It will be seen that there has been provided a simple cap and auxiliary member and means for removably holding said cap and member frictionally together for easy access and for easy re- 7 moval when necessary,'and that there has been provided a device well adapted to meet the requirements' of practical use.

Any variation or modification of the invention described above, not departing from the spirit of the invention, is intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. 7

1. A molded one-piece container cap having a top and a depending flange provided with a series of identical arcuately fluted and closely adjacent recesses on its outer surface, and an auxiliary onepiece molded container in the shape of an eyecup having a bottom surface adapted to contact with the top of the cap when the auxiliary container is assembled therewith, said auxiliary container having a multiplicity of substantially cylindrical integral projections extending past the bottom surface, each of said projections being of substantially the same diameter as the diameters of said recesses and being spaced from the remaining projections an exact multiple of the distance between adjacent recesses whereby when one projection is inserted into a selected recess the remaining projections enter and fit into other recesses of the cap.

2. A container cap having a top and a depending flange and having holes therein extending from the top and'into the flange, and an auxiliary member having a bottom adapted to rest on the container top and having a plurality of integral projections shaped and spaced apart to fit frictionally into theholes when the cap and member are assembled by a relative axial movement.

3. In a molded one-piece eye-cup adapted to be removably secured to a' container cap.v and having a downwardly and inwardly tapered lateral surface terminating in a substantially flat bottom surface, a'multiplicity of identical and circumferentially spaced cap-engaging projections integral with the eye-cup and extending downwardly from spaced points on said lateral surface, said points being intermediate the top of the eye-cup and the bottom surface thereof, each of the projections being substantially cylindrical and projecting downwardly past and below said lower surface and extending upwardly above said lower surface, at leasttwo of saidprojections being diametrically opposite each other, the'low'er end portions of the projections being free of each other and adapted to yield relatively to each other under pressure.

4. A molded container cap having a top and a depending flange provided with a series of identical circumferentially arranged recesses in its outer surface, each of the recesses having an outwardly concave wall, an auxiliary molded container in the shape of an eye-cup having a downwardly and inwardly tapering lateral surface terminating in a bottom surface adapted to contact with the top of the cap when the auxiliary container is assembled therewith, said auxiliary container having a multiplicity of circumferentially spaced projections, the upper part of each projection extending upwardly above the bottom surface and the lower part of each projection extending downwardly past the bottom surface, the uppermost ends of the projections being joined to spaced points on the lateral surface of the container between the top and bottom edges of said surface, each of the projections having a convex inner surface of the same shape and size as the concave walls of the recesses, the projections being spaced apart a digital multiple of the distance between adjacent recesses whereby when one projection is inserted into a selected recess the remaining projections enter and fit into other recesses of the cap to arrange the cap inside of and between the projections.

5. A molded one-piece container cap having a top and a depending flange provided with a multiplicity of identical recesses on its outer surface, each of the recesses being in the form of a cylindrical segment, and an auxiliary one-piece molded container in the shape of an eye-cup having a bottom surface adapted to contact with the top of the cap when the auxiliary container is assembled therewith, said auxiliary container having a pair of substantially identical diametrically opposite cylindrical segments constituting inwardly convex projections extending past the bottom surface, the radius of each of the projections being substantially the same as the radii of the recesses and being spaced from the other of the projections an exact multiple of the distance. between adjacent recesses whereby when one projection is inserted into a selected recess the other projection enters and fits into another recess of the cap.

PHILIP. A. DERHAM. JESSE H. NEWPORT, JR. 

